Asbestos scare hits new children's hospital

Camera IconAn artist's impression of the completed children's hospital.Picture: The West Australian

The Perth Children’s Hospital project has been hit by an asbestos scare after workers last night discovered a suspicious-looking substance in an insulation panel and evacuated the site.

It is understood the eighth floor of the hospital, the engineering level, has 150 sealed insulation panels used to stop noise, heat and vibrations.

A spokesman for Health Minister John Day said lead contractor John Holland had the product independently tested in 2013 and declared asbestos-free.

Last night a worker cut through one of the panels while installing a ceiling fan and discovered what looked to him like white asbestos.

It is understood the worker obtained a sample and put it in his tool box before the area was cleared and sealed.

The spokesman said initial testing on the sample indicated the presence of asbestos.

The Government was stopping short of categorically declaring the product defective because there was a chance the sample may have been compromised in the worker’s toolbox, which may have had asbestos in it for other reasons.

It has obtained a second sample under controlled conditions, and the results are expected tomorrow.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union has blamed the incident on a “cheap imported product” from China and says the rooftop atrium is "riddled with asbestos".

“The product imported by the company Yuanda is a fibrous-based material that is used as a filler to stop vibrations between the external cladding and internal panelling,” CFMEU State secretary Mick Buchan said in a a statement.

“Our immediate concern is for the workers who have installed this product and also for the potential on-going health risks to workers and future patients at the hospital.

“The product has been found to contain Chrysotile which is a type of asbestos. Our view is there is no safe threshold when it comes to asbestos.”